There are many common causes of injury that occur in day to day living that could be avoided if people had greater awareness and understanding of it’s capacity to cause strain.
So to help save you from potential pain and injury here are 3 examples of activities to avoid that the general population may not necessarily deem as problematic.
These activities are usually performed out of impatience, maybe a touch of laziness or simply being unaware of its implications.
1. Reaching into the back seat of your car from the front.
Whilst reaching across the front seat to lift an object off the seat, and even more so off the floor can strain your shoulder, reaching back into back seat is asking for even more trouble. Reaching back requires a combination of shoulder extension with internal rotation which places high load through the tendons in the shoulder. With the shoulder already compromised, by increasing load even further by lifting an object creates an ideal scenario for injury to the tendons of the shoulder. Avoid this movement at all costs.
The simple solution to avoid this complex injury is to get out of the car when possible and get the item through the back door. Easy solution.
2. Falling asleep on the couch.
We’ve probably all been guilty of this. Late at night, watching some TV and you doze off lying on the couch. The problem is couches in general have poor support and most people rest their heads on the arm rest. By doing so your head will be tilted up on an awkward angle and if you sustain this position for a period of time you are likely to wake with a strained stiff neck and in more severe cases a wry neck the next morning.
The trick is to not allow yourself to fall asleep on the couch. Easier said then done.
3. Carrying multiple shopping bags.
Another activity we’ve all been guilty of. Whether it’s from the supermarket to your car, from your car to your house or even walking home from the supermarket. We all think we can save ourselves a ‘valuable’ 90 seconds by seeing how many bags we can clutch in each hand. If your bags contain common items such as canned food, milk or drink cartons and washing detergents the weight adds up fairly quickly. This short journey with kilos in each hand puts strain onto multiple areas of the body with injury to elbow or shoulder tendons as well as back and neck muscles or joints possible.
The obvious remedy is to either take the trolley all the way to your car, take a few trips to and from your car at home, or take a wheelie trolley with you if you walk to the from the supermarket. Easy remedy and stress free.
If you eliminate these 3 activities from your day to day routine you'll eliminate 3 easy ways of hurting yourself. Stay well and stay healthy.
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